Page 85 of Hearts of Stone

“Yes…” That insistent rub of her softness against my hardness was shredding my control.

“Forever, Jade. He’s already yours for eternity, that goes without saying, but this… You’ll be choosing him as well. You need to decide.”

She looked down then, reaching out to stroke Seneca’s face, the fledgling leaning into her caress. He was where he needed to be, and she was there with him.

“Yes.” At her breathy answer, Carrick shot me a dark look, one part wariness, one part envy. “Yes, Seneca, I need…”

But she didn’t need to finish the sentence, because he knew.

He rose above her like a cobra about to strike.

“What do you need, Jade, my mate?” The male’s brow creased as if he was feeling indescribable pain, not pleasure. “Is it me?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down, before her body did the most marvellous thing. It undulated like a wave and somehow that’s all it took. I knew the last pearl popped in because the two of them broke apart, wide eyed and staring as they tried to process the sensation.

And at that, the knife of jealousy twisted hard in my gut. I wanted Jade to accept Seneca. He was young, but a good male, and would do right by our mate, but… I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever be in his position. But I resolved not to focus on that now.

“C’mon, fledgling…” My voice was as rough as gravel. “Don’t make our mate ask twice.”

“Jade, you’re the only woman for me. The world can go cold and turn to dust and I’ll still carry you in my heart,” he told her.

“I know.” Her voice broke as she acknowledged her trust in his words. “I don’t know how. It doesn’t make sense, but I know. Just as I know I need to…”

She tilted her head sideways, and, gods, I wanted that so much that coppery saliva filled my mouth. My fangs ached, and Carrick must’ve felt the same as he shuffled closer. He linked his fingers with hers, then stroked her hair with his other hand.

“This is the first step, lass. The first step towards something grand.” His eyes narrowed as he glanced up at Seneca. “So what’re you waiting for? Your mistress is giving you the most perfect gift and you’re—”

Whatever he’d been going to say, it was cut off as Seneca struck. A low, animalistic growl, his tail whipping back and forth, her body arching into his as he bit her throat, just one tiny trail of blood seeping free as a result. As Seneca marked Jade, I heard a far-off scream and it was a twin of the one inside me.

“Graven,” Carrick hissed.

“I’ll see to it.”

I pulled myself regretfully from the bed, letting the two of them fall down onto the mattress, each step away from her feeling wrong, so damn wrong. But that was The Eyrie. Usually the site of polymorphous perversity, this was a wrongness of a completely different kind, and I was willing to bet Wulfstan felt the same.

“Brother—”

“He marked her!” he shouted, lunging at the gates, ignoring the spray of power that went up, like sparks of electricity, as the wards responded each time he touched the bars. “He marked my mate!”

“He marked our mate,” I corrected, mildly. “The same woman who this night was in Mother Agnes’ tent, trying to find a means to help free you.”

“She did?” He withdrew back into the shadows, but still close enough that I could see his eyes glittering in the depths. “Why would she do that? I can’t leave this prison. I can’t. The master said I must stay and he must go. I must stay and he must go.”

I was well used to Wulfstan’s babble when his mind left him, but this recitation was something different.

“The master did go,” I corrected. “He was removed from the prison when he died.”

At your hands, I wanted to say, but I didn’t dare press him. Wulfstan was already unstable.

“I must stay and he must go…”

Wulf muttered that over and over as he backed away, retreating into the depths of his prison until I could no longer hear him.

I stared blankly into the darkness of Z Ward, mulling over how much I hated the place; hated everything that had happened there and the scars it had left upon all of us, most of all Wulf. I hated the Whiteley legacy, but with Jade… I’d dared to feel a moment of hope when she pressed Mother Agnes for a means to heal my brother, to erase the mistakes of the past. Perhaps…

Whatever grand ideas might have been about to germinate, they fell dormant as soon as I saw the very first rays of the sun begin to stain the sky. I leapt into the air, beating my wings firmly to land on the roof, standing tall and ready to face down the sun’s glow. I would bear its fiery rays, anything for my mate. Because while I might envy my flockmate viciously, I also hoped that one day all four of us would persuade her to make the same jump with each one of us. If she did, we’d be ready to catch her no matter what might befall her.

Chapter 48

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